{Madi's "Mi" Bag} Shutterfly Practical Gift Pt. 2

*This post is part of a sponsored collaboration between Shutterfly and LooksiSquare. I received product compensation, but all opinions are {honestly} my own!*

Pt. 2

An issue I've never wanted to deal with for the little Miss Madisyn, is the loss of her beloved "Mi" [her very, very special blanky].  As a baby and child, I also had a very special blanky that I needed to go to sleep.  I don't recall getting to take it everywhere with me, but it did ALWAYS go on overnights.  There were a few times that it got left behind, and consequently some lonely nights without it until it was able to be returned.  

As a Mommy, I have always wanted to prevent this issue from EVER happening to my baby.  The solution I came up with, was making sure that whenever "Mi" leaves the house [only when we won't be sleeping or napping at home] it has to be in a specific bag, and that specific bag [with "Mi" inside] also has to return home with us.  It would be like forgetting my purse [which does happen from time to time, but hopefully less likely than just the blanky on its own].  We've always used a plain old boring reusable shipping bag, nothing special.  When I saw that Shutterfly offers a wonderful Reusable Shopping Bag, and IT CAN BE PERSONALIZED with a PHOTO AND TEXT, I knew it was EXACTLY what we needed!  

Madisyn enjoys the excitement of opening a gift, often as much as she enjoys what is inside.  It is so fun watching her open, I thought I needed to share that with you as well *insert smiling face here*.

You can see she enjoyed what she found inside the pretty wrapping as well:  Who wouldn't enjoy seeing a picture of their beautiful family, stuck onto a pretty bag?!

The 3 best things about this new, special "Mi Bag" are:

1. It feels super good while wearing it and seems very durable!
2. IT IS LARGE- not only is there room for "Mi", there is extra space, because you know it's never JUST "Mi" that has to go, an entourage of "friends" [stuffed animals] also have to come along.
3. and its PRETTY!  I chose the Mutil Chevron Stripes design option, but there were so many to choose from!

The possibilities are endless for uses of these Reusable Shopping Bags because there are so many style, and personalization options!  I would love to hear if you order some, and what creative uses you came up with for them!

Thank you for following along in our Shutterfly Practical Gift series.  I felt that the two wonderful photo gifts we were blessed with needed to be honored with their own separate stories!  

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow to be entered into a chance to win $100 from LooksiSquare and Shutterfly!

"Mi" Bag Bloopers:  I couldn't NOT share the outtakes from our photo shoot- Madi is TWO- and almost everything we do gets accompanied by a really big tantrum these days.  While Madisyn was VERY excited to get to open a Birthday Gift, and LOVED the bag she received and the pretty picture of her family on it- at the time, she was NOT EXCITED to put her "Mi" in it= so funny, I had to share:

Baby Shower {Greeting Card Scrap Book} Kit

What do you do with all the beautiful greeting cards you receive for your child's first birthday, or in the mail for Christmas, or on your Wedding Day???  Well, I am the type of person that has a hard time throwing them away, but they just end up sitting in a keepsake box tucked away on a shelf.

THE SOLUTION

I've come across  a concept  over the past few years on blogs, Pinterest, etc and I think it is fabulous.
But, I think there is a way to take this concept up a notch and not only include those beautiful greeting cards in the scrapbook, but use them as backdrop for photos from the event, journals, keepsakes and more! [Click the photo to be taken to one lovely blog post with the idea]

SOOOOO....I've been saving the cards we receive for different milestones and holidays to create this style of scrap book ever since, but have not taken the time to put one together yet.  Here's the bin I've been saving all of Madisyn's Baby Shower Cards in....

As you can read here, I needed a gift for a Gender Neutral Baby Shower and wanted it to be something useful, unique and memorable.  I figured it was the perfect time to make myself put together one of these scrapbooks for someone else, so that I would know exactly how I want to do mine that I've been saving all my cards for.

So, I went through Madisyn's books and found that we happened to have two copies of the Pokey Little Puppy.  This is the perfect, classic, and gender neutral book to create this kit with!

I started by using a box cutter and carefully cut off the front and back cover of the book right along the spine.

And ended up with a front and a back for the scrapbook.

I gathered some gender neutral colored supplies (ribbon, cardstock, patterned paper, etc) and some binder rings and started to put it all together.

Using my book binding punch, I made 3 holes in the covers for the binder rings.

Then, I Mod Podged some patterned paper on the inside of the covers for a spot to include the Invitation to the party on the inside of the cover and a Guest List in the back.  

I also included a few blank patterned pages inside in case she needs extra room to journal or anything.  To complete the kit, I gathered photo corners, some extra coordinating card-stock pieces, a sharpie to write down the gifts and guests at the party, and a hole puncher.

Then, I created a little celo bag to put it all together in and made a cute little tag for the top!  To make the tag, I just measured a half an inch on either side larger than the envelope and folded a piece of paper, then stapled it onto the top of the bag and glued my letters over the staples.

And here it is all together (with the Mod Podge not yet dry behind the letters).

In her gift basket I also wanted to include the What to Expect- The First Year book that I used as a reference with Madisyn.  I enjoyed this book, and thought it might be special for her to thumb through the same one I used (and there's no sense in buying another book, when I already had it and don't need it anymore!)

It turned out great, and I can't wait to see it after she puts it all together.  Now, I just need to pull out another duplicate book and get Madisyn's made! [I will certainly do a follow up post so you can see how the greeting cards are used to mount photos, keepsakes and more!]

I did create a Silhouette cut file for this project that I'd be happy to email to you for the wording on the tag- just leave me a note!

I'd love to hear about the Greeting Card Scrap Books you make with this concept- the possibilities are endless!  Your comments make my day!

Linked up at:

Make Bake Create

Gender Neutral DIY Baby Shower Gift Ideas

I am headed to one of my best friend's baby shower this weekend, and I am super excited to see all the ladies and babies!  However, this strong friend of mine has held out in finding out what the gender is of her FIRST BABY at the request of her husband!  This is fun and exciting and all, but it makes gift giving difficult.  Especially when I want to hand-craft gifts special, just for this little sweetie.
Aimee has special requested one of my {Monthly Onesie Sets} as her baby shower gift, but I don't want them to be gender neutral, so those will have to wait.  BUT, I can't show up EMPTY HANDED, right?!
So, I went on a Pinterest Hunt to come up with some cute, and easy gifts for options to take to the shower.

I hope you enjoy my collection of DIY Gender Neutral Baby Shower Gifts below! [Click the image to follow a link to the tutorial]

Burp Cloths

Do Not Disturb Sign

Diaper Caddy/Organizing Bin

UpCycled T-Shirt Bibs

Soft Blocks

Closet Dividers

Alphabet Art

Nursing Cover

Taggie Blanket

Baby Blocks

And of course, what I've schemed up to make, I cannot find a tutorial for--- so I guess I will have to make my own for you all!

It's along the same ideas as this:

Christmas Card Book

I better get started!  Stay tuned to see what I've come up with!

{Autumn Paper Crafts} a curated collection for looksi square

Hi Friends!

I curated a collection of Autumn Paper Crafts for looksi square this week and thought I would share them with you!  I found some really fun projects.  Take a look at the photo sneak peak below- and please click on over to looksi square to find the actual tutorials and blog posts!  Have a great weekend!